NPO featured in CNN episode of ‘This is Life with Lisa Ling’ aimed at highlighting deficiencies in America’s family courts

NATIONAL PARENTS ORGANIZATION | PRESS RELEASE

November 26, 2018

NPO FEATURED IN CNN EPISODE OF ‘THIS IS LIFE WITH LISA LING’ AIMED AT HIGHLIGHTING DEFICIENCIES IN AMERICA’S FAMILY COURTS

National Parents Organization (NPO) was privileged to be featured in an episode of CNN’s “This is Life with Lisa Ling” over the weekend.

Entitled “The Dad Dilemma,” the hourlong documentary-style show touched on important topics related to America’s family court system, including the inability to receive timely hearings, the use of inaccurate domestic violence charges, the punitive nature of child support orders and the struggle for fathers who want to be active in their children’s lives but receive limited opportunity. Lisa Ling, host of the show, even concluded there were obvious problems with court rulings following a divorce or separation uncovered during her reporting.

NPO strongly believes legislative reform centered on the concept of shared parenting — as close to equal time for both parents whenever possible — can help solve many of these ongoing and too-often-overlooked problems.

“I feel pretty upset,” Ling said in the episode after profiling a North Carolina man serving as the noncustodial parent of his son. “We are constantly talking about the crisis of absent fathers in this country, and here is a man who has the desire to be an active part of his son’s life — not just an every-other-weekend dad — and the system is preventing him from doing that. I just can’t see how that is in the best interest of this little boy.”

“We appreciate CNN bringing light to this important topic,” said Petra Maxwell, executive director for NPO. “This is a welcome acknowledgement not only of the existing problem with this nation’s family courts but the momentum of a movement impacting positive change to the system through legislative reform. NPO is proud to be a part of that movement, and we look forward to continuing to making a difference and helping parents maintain relationships that serve the best interest of their children.”

CNN highlighted the movement in this country to seek changes to existing laws, featuring NPO as one organization facilitating these important changes. In the past year, NPO representatives in Virginia and Kentucky helped pass landmark new legislation for those states that advance the concept of shared parenting.

“No better substitute has ever been found for children than two loving, fit parents,” NPO founder Ned Holstein, M.D., said on the show in a clip from a speech.

NPO, a charitable and educational nonprofit organization, has grown to include 16 state affiliates throughout the United States. Members seek to educate constituents and motivate legislators to change family law at the state level based on the overwhelming and mounting evidence that children benefit from maintaining the important familial bonds with a mother and a father regardless of marital status.

ABOUT NATIONAL PARENTS ORGANIZATION National Parents Organization, a charitable and educational 501 (c)(3) organization, seeks better lives for children through family law reform that establishes equal rights and responsibilities for fathers and mothers after divorce or separation. The organization is focused on promoting shared parenting and preserving a child’s strong bonds with both parents, which is critically important to their emotional, mental, and physical health. National Parents Organization released the Shared Parenting Report Card, the first study to rank the states on child custody laws, and in 2017, National Parents Organization hosted the International Conference on Shared Parenting, bringing in research scholars from 18 countries to share their results on shared parenting. Visit the National Parents Organization website at www.nationalparentsorganization.org

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"The opinions expressed herein are those of our guest authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Parents Organization or its Board of Directors."